Sum Beach
by GreenCyberWolf
Summary: It's the hottest day of the summer and there's no relief. Then Luffy gets an idea. Fun one-shot


A stand alone OS just for fun. Now that we're moving into colder weather finally, or for some others it's already been that way (lucky), a goodbye to the summer heat.

Disclaimer: I dont own One Piece

 **Sum Beach**

"Man, you guys, I'm reeaally hot!" Whined the third pitiful complaint in an hour. "It sucks."

A group of teenagers were laid out in the prime real estate of the shade of a huge elm. It was the height of summer and the temperture, even though it was late morning, was on a steady rise. Considering it was a Saturday every spot that offered even a slight relief from the sun was spoken for. The bright blue sky continued to remain cloudless and denied even the hope for an end to the insufferable heatwave.

The one voicing his distress in the miserable group was spread eagle on the grass, a straw hat discarded beside him. The friends grouped together in the shade collectively groaned. They didnt have the paitence or near enough energy to respond directly. Each of the friends found themselves out in the sun each for their own reasons and unable to retreat indoors.

"Luffy, everyone's hot, and it sucks for all of us." Huffed an orange haired girl as she lay back on a marble bench to watch the sun's rays flit through the still branches above them, unmoved by a single breeze.

Unwilling to give in Luffy rolled over on his stomach, bits of grass clinging to his raven hair, and looked at the others sharing the shade with him. Nami was still lying on the bench, Zoro was slouched against the elm trunk with his eyes closed, Sanji was sitting close to Nami and watching for the rare passer-by, and Ussop was stretched on his stomach and idly pulling up the grass in front of him. "We could go to the pool." Luffy offered up hopefully.

With a grunt of effort, or annoyance, Luffy couldnt tell which; Zoro rolled one eye towards him and burst that thought bubble. "Cant. Pool's closed for a week. Clogged drain, or somethin'..." By that point obviously the conversation lost interest for the green haired teen because he closed his eyes and went back to pretending to be asleep.

After thinking about the situation for a full minute Luffy was sure of two things. One, it was way too hot to be thinking this hard and he was sure his brain had been fried. Two, he had come up with the perfect idea. "The beach!" Luffy almost shouted as he spun himself into a sitting position. A grin spread from ear to ear cause he was sure this would be the answer to their current problems.

This time it was Sanji who ran his fingers through short blonde hair and sighed in exasperation. "The beach is two hours away, Luffy." When the optimistic teen still looked oblivious Sanji rolled his eyes. "None of us have a car and we cant all pile on Zoro's motorcycle."

Beside him Zoro tensed and his eyes cracked open again as if the mere thought of the team of friends balancing on his bike like some sort of circus acrobats had him ready to run in case anyone took the idea seriously. If the stars growing in Luffy's eyes were any indication that was a likely scenario. "Dont even think about it," he grumbled threateningly, and that was the end of that.

It was at this point that Ussop became interested in the conversation. The long-nosed boy hesitatingly raised his hand and cleared his throat to get his friend's attention. Even Nami sat up on the bench and looked over. "Um, my dad said I could use his old car this week. You know, if I needed to." Four pair of eyes locked onto him, immediately sparking with interest.

"Why didnt you tell us this sooner, Ussop?" Nami demanded. "We couldve gone to the beach earlier instead of melting out here."

"Uh, well, I didnt think it would help." The boy mumbled meekly, avoiding the eyes of his friends.

0-0-0

Several minutes later the group stood gawking at the ancient red VW clunker that stood in Ussop's driveway. One of the side mirrors was missing and the left headlight was cracked. It looked like the trunk was tied shut with a piece of rope and duct tape was the only thing keeping the muffler from dragging the ground.

Ussop rubbed the back of his neck. "I told you guys I didnt think it would be any good. It doesnt even have A/C."

"Well," Nami started with a shrug, "we might all fit."

"Somebody's gonna have to sit on a lap." Zoro huffed in his usual growling tone. Trading a sidelong glare with Sanji both boys took several steps away from each other.

Sanji enthusiastically jumped to Nami's side and boldly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I volunteer to be Nami's willing chair while riding to and from the beach and whenever else she needs me."

The orange haired girl smiled accomidatingly but her eyes screamed "not a chance" while she disentagled herself from the skinny blonde. "We'll have to figure something out if we want to get to the beach anytime today." She said and moved to stand at Luffy's side. The raven haired teen smiled at her.

"I wanna drive!" Luffy shot his hand in the air, volunteering himself energetically.

" _No!_ " Without a breath of hesitation everyone instantly gave their opinions on that idea. Instead of looking dejected as he put his hand down Luffy merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

After much trial and arguing and grumbling it was finally decided that Ussopp would drive since it _was_ his dad's car in the first place. Zoro would sit in the back seat along with Luffy and Nami who seemed happy enough to be sharing Luffy's lap. Sanji would sit up front because he wouldnt stop kicking the lanky black haired boy for mishandling Nami.

A long two hour, cramped, hot, and uncomfortable car ride later Luffy and the others clamered out of the little VW-bug and onto the sandy boardwalk. The boardwalk and the beach were crowded but the group wasnt there for the sand anyway. It was at least a few degrees cooler here than back at the city park. There were even clouds rolling across the sky.

"Whoo-hoo!" Luffy shouted and ripped off his red tank top, ready to hit the water. The others werent too far behind.

All attention was on the waves rolling up the beach and no one took any notice that the white clouds above were turning heavy and gray as they walked across the sand. Luffy splashed in up to his waist and turned to wait for his friends to, much too slowly in his opinion, join him for a water war.

Nami's feet hit the water just as thunder rumbled low across the sky. Luffy, Ussop, Zoro, and Sanji stopped what they were doing and looked up. The group was barely wet from the waves as rain started to pound down on them. A whistle blew from the beach which was a signal to call in all swimmers. Apparently the bad weather was just getting started.

As the group trudged out of the water Luffy was disappointed while Zoro just looked pissed off that the whole uncomfortable day was a waste. He let out a long string of choice curse words under his breath. The green haired teen was not looking forward to being stuffed in that car for another two hours on the ride back.

Luffy, having overheard and completly mishearing the mumbles, nodded in agreement as they joined Ussop and Nami on the beach. "Yeah, you're right, Zoro. This is some beach. We should come back and do it again tomorrow."

There was a collective groan.

=0=0=


End file.
